Controversial Thursday - Weapons of Mass Destruction

I know there has been a lot written about this subject and I’m sure there will be a lot more but I felt the need to get it off my chest...then I promise not to discuss it again as it upsets me, those around me and many, many more families I’m sure.

I am of course talking about the reason we went to war in Iraq...for the second time!

I have 2 brothers in the Royal Air Force (RAF), one works in the Nimrod surveillance aeroplanes and the other is

in the RAF Regiment and a trained sniper...both of them were sent to war, so I do have a little experience of the impact of what happened.  Watching my two brothers go off to war within 2 weeks of one another was one of the most painful experiences of my life as I am sure it was for thousands of other families all around the world... especially when no one was convinced that we should be going.

Having read many pieces of evidence, I find it difficult to believe, well...actually I don’t, that President George W Bush was so naive in believing the story...excuse me...lies of one man... Rafid Ahmed Alwan al-Janabi.  He was known to the American CIA as an Iraqi citizen that defected in 1999 and claimed that he worked as a chemical engineer at a plant that manufactured mobile biological weapon laboratories as part of the Iraqi WMD program.

Despite warnings from German FIS (Federal Intelligence Service) questioning the authenticity of the information, the US government pressed ahead and used it to justify invading Iraq.  This guy even later admitted in a court in 2011 that he had lied and was ‘shocked’ that his information was used to justify a war...’shocked’... are you serious pal.  What on earth did you think was going to happen when you tell a trigger happy numbnut like GW Bush that there are WMD’s in Iraq after what had happened on 9/11.  Saying that, you could have told him that there was a guy with a gun in Iraq and he would probably still gone to war.

When you look back at some of the history of Iraq and how they gained their nuclear infrastructure, weapons and training... we do in actual fact have to turn closer to home.  France built nuclear reactors and 21% of Iraq chemical weapon equipment , Italy supplied 75,000 shells and rockets designed for chemical weapons, USA sent hi-tech computer systems that were used in the chemical weapons factories and even sent them some samples of Anthrax and the West Nile Virus...WTF?????  And yes... Britain too supplied triggers for nuclear weapons ....oh... and Gerald Bull...who developed the Iraqi Supergun....nice!!!  All this during the late 1970’s and the early 1980’s so Saddam Hussein could fight his war against Iran.

Between us...and when I say ‘us’ I specifically refer to our respective governments, we gave Iraq the means to create the exact same WMD’s that we later used as ‘evidence’ to go to war. I say ‘evidence’ because not a single shred of evidence has been found since we went to war.

So I ask...the UN Security Council Resolution 1441 that was used to try to get Saddam to let inspectors into his facilities... was this enough?  Should we have continued to go down the diplomatic route?  Could we have avoided going to war?  I have a few questions...USA...the most powerful nation on earth...with some of the most sophisticated satellite systems in existence...surely to god you could of used them to scour Iraq for evidence?  For gods sake you can zoom in and tell what time it is on my watch...surely you can find some great big rockets and nuclear facilities?  But no...you take the evidence of someone that in actual fact, just wanted his green card, and then go gung ho into Iraq, destroying vast parts of the countries infrastructure, killing innocent people...oh... and our own in ‘friendly fire’...what the hell is FRIENDLY about shooting and killing people on the same side?

And then we have to look at our Prime Minister... Tony Blair.  I have to acknowledge that I did actually like him.  I did think that he was capable of making tough and unpopular decisions, but those were supposed to be for the good of the country...not to send it into war.  He was basically weak, he couldn’t grow balls and stand up to GW and say no.  Tony...you’re an intelligent man, we have some of the best intelligence in the world... our guys basically fudged the data to justify your decision to back GW...tut tut.   

What I don’t get...what really grates with me...and I’m sure it does with those that have been affected by this...is why...after all this time...after all the investigations...after all the correct ‘evidence’... don’t Tony and George W just plain old apologise...openly, unconditionally, sincerely and honestly.  Just man up and be accountable for your actions.  No trying to wriggle your way out of it with fancy words, deflection and spin...show the world that you are actually sorry.

And for heavens sake, get those troops out of there.  I know we’ve...sorry ‘you’ve’ messed up the country even more so because it’s now even less stable than it was before...but we have to get the troops out and let the true people of Iraq decide for themselves the way forward.  Who are we to tell them what to do?  They weren’t invading our countries...the ordinary Iraqi citizens want peace, just like the rest of us.

I am thankful that my two brothers both came home alive (one nearly didn’t...but that’s classified)...and to the families of those that lost loved ones, I can only offer my sincerest condolences and congratulate the bravery of the men and women who lost their lives because the men in power didn’t do due diligence.

Why the hell do we need nuclear and chemical weapons anyway?  Everyone’s sat there with a ‘Red Button’ waiting for one country to launch...so they can launch...and another...why don’t we just destroy each other some more???  In my humble opinion, it all boils down to it this.  The ordinary people of the world want peace, they do not control nor have a say in whether we go to war...it’s all in the hands of our so called ‘World Leaders’.  I for one don’t agree with that.  Had they had a national vote here in the England, I’m confident the answer would have be a resounding NO.  Political power and Oil... that’s what I feel it was all about.

We have to understand that we are by no means one to preach about war and invading, god only knows England did enough of it centuries ago...surely it’s time for all that to stop.  With all the natural disasters that are devastating our planet, all the animals that are endangered, all the rain forests that are being destroyed, poverty, drought...why can’t we all just put our heads together and solve some of the bigger issues...just so long as it isn’t run by those plonkers that run the European Union!